This disclosure pertains generally to the field of medical devices, and more particularly to balloon type catheters, and especially gastrostomy tube catheters, for insertion into the body of a patient.
There exists a variety of medical situations in which balloon catheters have been employed. Generally speaking, a balloon catheter refers to a catheter whose tip or forward portion has an inflatable balloon that either holds the catheter in place, such as for example in gastrostomy catheters used to provide nutritional feeding to a patient, or that can dilate the lumen of a blood vessel, such as for example in angioplastic procedures. In certain situations, it is particularly desirable to provide a direct visual indication to be able to verify the inflation and/or deflation condition of the balloon after the catheter has been inserted within the body of the patient and the balloon's condition can no longer be directly visually observed.
One particular situation where direct visual verification is especially desirable involves gastrostomy catheters (variously also referred to as gastrostomy tubes, G-tube catheters, PEG catheters, and enteral feeding tubes or catheters). These catheters often need to be maintained for long term use by the user or patient at home. Over time, the balloon may eventually weaken and develop a puncture, leak or other condition causing a loss of fluid pressure inside the balloon. If not discovered in a timely fashion, the balloon's deflation could result in the catheter being inadvertently removed.
Various methods and devices have been employed to provide a sensor or indicator useful for monitoring balloon pressure or the relative inflationary condition of the catheter balloon, but many suffer drawbacks in that they are too complicated, bulky, and/or expensive in their design and therefore not particularly suited for long term use, home use, and/or other situations. Thus, there is a need for improvement in this field and the present disclosure is directed to addressing those needs.